Henry VIII’s meat bill alone would have come to £3.5 million a year at today’s prices Getty ImagesHenry VIII has never had a reputation as a thrifty monarch but calculations about the extent of his largesse show that he makes the current royal family seem frugal.
A review of his finances suggests that his meat bill alone would come to £3.5 million a year in today’s money; more than twice the £1.4 million cost of feeding the Queen and her guests.
The king’s bill for drinks is estimated at £6 million.
Henry VIII’s divorce from Anne of Cleves in 1540 would have cost about £30 million at today’s prices AlamyHis divorce of Anne of Cleves in 1540 cost £30 million in modern terms — including the provision of Hever Castle in Kent.
Historians estimate that the settlement was worth £3,000 a year at the time which, over the remaining 17 years of Anne’s life, would be equivalent to £29.6 million.